Most recently, Chene was chief executive and chairman of Alliance Bernstein, which he joined in 1998 to launch its activities in the UK and Europe. Before that, he worked in his native New York, where he held distribution positions at UBS Asset Management, Chase Investors Management Corporation and Irving Trust Company.

Last week, Ignis bolstered its UK equity team with three appointments. The company, formerly known as Resolution Asset Management, is a subsidiary of the Phoenix Group, and managed £76 billion (about $121 billion) of client assets on 31 March 2011.